Of nightmares and happy endings
by LadyHaliax
Summary: The final battle was hell. /one-shot; contains gore & violence, though nothing extreme.


The final battle was hell.

Yes, it was true that previous encounters with titans – whether on expeditions or not – were always awful and ended with a lot of victims, but _nothing_ has prepared them for this. They were outnumbered. They were weakened. They were _hopeless_.

At first, it haven't even looked this bad. Erwin came up with a damn good strategy, which was easily followed by soldiers in early stages of fighting. But they were just a small army of people, no matter how skilled and talented. Hours passed by and while their numbers were shrinking at stunning pace, it seemed like there was even more titans than before, as if for every fallen soldier one from those repellent creatures came out of nowhere, replacing the victim of its kinsman. Having titan shifter on their side didn't even help anymore and before the sun set down, everyone remaining on the battlefield realized one, simple thing.

_They were going to die._

Humanity was going to lose, to extinct; it turned out that Walls Worshippers were true; dreams about winning back human's lands were nothing but mere fantasies. _Defeat the titans? _Sure, why didn't they think about reaching the sun too? It would be the same thing, wouldn't it? _Idiots._

* * *

Levi was tired. He might have been the humanity's strongest but he also felt like fighting at this point was simply pointless. Yet he continued slaying the titans – he had to take blades from his fallen comrades for a few times now – trying not to think about how will this end. He was a soldier, raised from a thug – there wasn't place in his mind for dwelling on such things, he just wanted to obey given him order, to complete the mission. Though, he doubted there was a possibility of doing this now. He had no idea what happened to his squad since they got separated in fighting but he wasn't stupid; chances of them still being alive were minimum. All he had to do was look around him to confirm that.

Corpses were lying _everywhere. _Some of them eaten in smaller or bigger part; some of them were still recognizable to Levi. He was pretty sure that the lifeless body he saw earlier belonged to Armin – _that poor brat _– and the strange, red thing, which caught his eye not so long ago, was Mikasa's scarf, owner nowhere in sight. Eren's fate seemed to be sealed as well, since he hadn't seen or heard black haired titan in last hours.

They were kids and now they were _dead._

He wouldn't stumble upon her if it weren't for someone who shouted the warning about a 7-meter titan approaching him. It was after he slayed the monster and landed on some roof when he saw a weird flash of light with the corner of his eye. It was way too familiar – he knew it – but acted completely ignorant as he lowered himself to the street, where two bodies were lying few meters from each other. He took in the sight of armless men, recognizing him immediately.

_Curious thing, _he thought. _After all, he was with his Squad Leader to her last moment. _

Slowly, Levi turned to the other body. It was bloodied and beaten up but not as badly defiled as the ones he saw before; he could easily tell that it was a woman. Her eyes were snapped open in a terrified matter, looking in the void from behind of goggles.

He wanted to say something. Make a sarcastic remark about the mess she's gotten herself into this time but he found himself unable to say a single word. Instead, Levi sank to his knees close to her body. He took off her goggles – there was a long crack across the glass – and put them next to her, his face hollow. His hand ventured over her face again, this time closing her eyes, when he felt his own watering with tears.

That wasn't how it was supposed to end. He was no fool to believe that they'd live through this to have their own happy ending, no, but seeing her there, lying on the street made something inside him snap. He should have been with her, done something to prevent this from happening. Or at least be here, _die _with her if it was necessary! The idea of Hanji, _his wonderful, messy Hanji whose full-hearted laugh could make him smile no matter what_, being dead was an absurd. It just couldn't be!

Someone above him shouted; titans were approaching. Levi nodded, though not sure to whom, and, with sunken heart, kissed her dirty, bloody forehead for the last time. They might have gotten her, but he'll make sure that before they bring him down as well, _he'll_ _tear as many of them as he can to pieces._

* * *

Levi woke up with a gasp. He sat up violently, taking in the sight of dark environment surrounding him. After few long, confusing moments his breath evened out; it was another nightmare, nothing more. He couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped his lips. However, instead of going back to sleep, he glanced to his side, noted the empty bed and with a grumble got up, shivering after his bare feet made contact with cold floor.

Quietly, he left the bedroom and came down the stairs, following the dimmed light. Trying not to make any noise, he entered the room, not even fighting the smile that started to form on his face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Shitty Glasses?" He addressed the woman sitting on the couch with papers on her lap. Hearing his voice out of sudden she yelped with surprise, throwing papers all over.

"Levi! You startled me." She said, but the scowl on her face quickly turned into wide grin as she gathered the papers and scooted over, signaling him to join her.

"Yeah, whatever. That doesn't answer my question" He replied, sitting close to her and throwing the blanket over both of them. Realizing that she's listening to him only partially, still reviewing those stupid papers, he rested his head on her shoulder, inhaling her scent. It was a good thing that she finally agreed to take baths regularly, because, he had to admit, soap smelled really good on her.

"Hmph. I'm going through the documents that Armin gave me when he dropped by earlier. There's some really cool stuff, you know? I'm sure Erwin will want to hear about this too…" By the look on her face, Levi could easily tell that she couldn't contain her excitement.

"Tsk. Titans are gone since _four _years. I doubt he'll be interested about it." He snickered, pulling the documents away from her hands.

"Hey!" She protested. "I think that actually he _will _be interested, thank you very much."

Levi didn't even bother to reply, just snorted. However, Hanji didn't say anything either; she stayed quiet for a while, her expression softening.

"Couldn't sleep, eh?" She asked, though she already knew the answer. All of them suffered from nightmares, haunting their dreams.

"Nothing unusual." He answered quickly, though his voice came out a little bit shaky. It hasn't gone past her attention.

"Wanna tell me what was it about?" Came another question, another one for which answer she knew. He shook his head and Hanji smiled lightly, encircling her arms around him. At first he resisted but quickly gave up, the nightmare still fresh in his mind.

"I'm glad you're here, Hanji." He whispered after few moments, looking down at his hands. She moved away from him slightly and raised his face with her fingers, so his eyes would meet hers.

"I'm glad you're here, too. So is the little one." She replied with a whisper as well, placing his hand on her stomach.

After all, everyone deserved a happy end.


End file.
